Essentially,
the Richard
Gray's Power
Company 1200S
line enhancer
consists of a
pair of RGPC
400S's in one
package.
Rather than
the 400S's
four female
receptacles,
the 1200S
offers six per
side. It also
differs from
the 400S in
its power-cord
requirement:
the 1200S
calls for a
20-amp female
IEC, thus
rendering
power cords
with 15-amp
female IEC's
inapplicable.
Of course the
1200S comes
with its own
appropriately
terminated
power cord.
More about
this in a
moment.

The
1200S is a
handsome
device, with
its sculpted,
3/8th-inch-thick
black
faceplate at
the center of
which sits
Audio Source's
optionally
illuminated
power-station
logo. (The
on-off switch
is in the
rear.)

I
wasn't
expecting to
receive a
1200S. I had
my six RGPC
400S's
comfortably
nestled in the
trench behind
the platform
upon which my
Levinson No.
33H amps, No.
39 CD player,
and Ortho
Spectrum
Analogue
Reconstructor
sit, and the
system was
sounding good.
I reacted to
the 1200S's
arrival with a
tepid very
nice, but what
on earth do I
need it for? I
share a small
loft with a
fastidious
interior
designer.
Milady and
your reporter
survived a
massive
(self-inflicted)
renovation,
and where
things now go,
as a matter of
esthetics, is
yet more
critical than
heretofore.
Further, the
space the
sound system
occupies isn't
exactly
prairie-wide.
Or deep.
However, an
audiophile's
curiosity
prevailed.
Scant inches
to spare, I
shifted the
Bright Star
Audio Air
Mass, Big Rock
and Little
Rock
assemblage on
which the CD
player and
Analogue
Reconstructor
sit to the
platform's
front edge and
positioned the
1200S directly
behind,
thereby
masking its
manly good
looks.

That
question
again: What on
earth do I
need this for?
After a short
spell of
listening, the
answer would
appear to be,
For yet better
sound. Yes,
yes, we
subjectivists
are an
impressionable,
excitable lot,
but I am
intimately
familiar with
this system
and the room
in which it
operates, and
I do most
sincerely
believe the
improvements
the 1200S
brings to be
real -- not
I-can-even-hear-the-difference-in-the-shower
sensational;
subtle,
rather.
Remember, the
1200S has been
added to a mix
consisting
already of six
RGPC 400S's.

And
then there's
that
power-cord.
When I applied
Acoustic Zen
Technologies'
Krakatoa power
cords to the
original six,
I heard a
difference
that gladdened
my days.
Nothing subtle
about it at
all. I was
keen to know
whether the
1200S would
also profit
from a
power-cord
substitution.
I requested of
AZ a Krakatoa
with a 20-amp
female IEC, it
arrived soon
after, and the
answer is yes.
Remember that
game we played
as little
kids? You
needed to
request
permission to
move.
"May
I?"
"Yes, you
may."
Something
along those
lines. The
giant steps I
earlier took.
Baby steps
now. In terms
of power
conditioning,
I'd pretty
much climbed
to the top of
Parnassus ante
1200S.

My
experience of
designer power
cords is
limited to
API, XLO,
Harmonic
Technology
(including
HT's
super-whoopee
Magic), and
Acoustic Zen.
By contrast,
my colleague
Jim Merod's
experience in
this
department is
vast. In Jim's
opinion, the
Krakatoa is
the best he's
come across. I
can only add
to Jim's good
opinion the
impression
that the
Krakatoa and
RGPC work
together
magically
well. Which
means what,
exactly?

There
is no easy
answer. We
have to remind
ourselves, I
think, that in
evaluating an
addition like
the 1200S, it
joins an
assemblage to
which it
contributes
something
unique. But so
then does the
Ortho Spectrum
Analogue
Reconstructor,
as do Bill
Stierhout's
weird-science
Quantum
Symphony and
Quantum
Symphony Pro
podlets, as do
Acoustic Zen's
interconnects,
speaker cables
and power
cords, as do
Bright Star
Audio's Big
Rocks, Air
Mass and
Little Rock,
indeed, as
does the room
with its
wonderful high
ceiling and
many irregular
surfaces. Not
to neglect the
1200S's six
RGPC 400S
predecessors.
A system
consists of
the sum of its
parts enclosed
by an
environment.
As obvious as
that may seem,
we tend to
forget.

So
what are the
1200S's
distinctions?
Sonics now are
much as they
were, yet
subtly
superior. Only
two of the
1200S's dozen
receptacles
are occupied:
the big RGPC
is dedicated
for now to the
Levinson No.39
CD player and
the Analogue
Reconstructor.
(My Levinson
33H monos now
have their own
400S
daisy-chain
threesome,
which they no
longer share
with the CD
player and
Analogue
Reconstructor.)
Among the CDs
I played for
this
evaluation is
an old,
guilty-pleasure
favorite on
John Zorn's
Tzadik label,
TZ 7004, Arnold
Drayblatt /
Animal
Magnetism.
Dreyblatt's
seven-strong
ensemble, The
Orchestra of
Excited
Strings,
consists of a
number of
zing-ping-twangy
devices and
percussion. I
play this disc
as an antidote
to the vapors.
It's also
proved
effective
against the
fantods,
droops and
heebie-jeebies.
This is
rhythmically
bracing,
high-energy
stuff, as well
as a workout
for any good
rig. I
acquired Animal
Magnetism
several
system-iterations
ago. It always
came across as
the superbly
dynamic,
beautifully
recorded thing
it is, yet
yesterday's
experience was
something
quite special.
I'd never
heard it so
exquisitely
detailed, even
when the going
was rock-slide
raucous. I've
always been
impressed by
the WATT /
Puppy Sixes'
low end.
Yesterday I
was awed.

Perhaps
you agree that
an equipment
commentary's
most tiresome
aspect is the
accounting of
recordings the
writer played
in arriving at
his
impressions.
I'll spare
you. I've been
listening to a
number of
things for the
next issue of
LaFolia.com
and played
quite a few of
them over the
past few days
with the 1200S
in place. As I
say, subtle
but there.